Limitless

Does God only work when there are big, rockin' bands and powerful nondenominational speakers, or are we limiting His power to work even when things don't seem extravagant?

The reason I decided to write this post was because I've been bottling up some anger, and I feel I need to let it out in a socially acceptable manner. This is known as sublimation (Sucesss! I'm learning something in school).

Anyways, back to the topic. Our South West Regional Youth Fellowship Conference is literally a week away from when I'm posting. We have a decent amount of people registered, and I'm very ecstatic for this conference. We are hosting it, and I honestly, from the depths of my heart, believe that God will work astounding miracles, and the Holy Spirit will be very tangible. Yet, there are those that decide to make excuses and lie about why they aren't coming. Also, there are others that complain that we're not having a band, or that JP from Watermark Community Church isn't preaching. This is why I asked the question to begin this post. To those of you that state that we don't have a band or that JP isn't speaking, do you honestly believe that is a good enough reason not to come? I can honestly attest to the fact that our Praise & Worship team is an amazing group of talented individuals coming together for the glory of God. They are not doing this for themselves, or so that you guys can drool over them. I understand that Sehion had a band last year, and those guys were great, but Sehion also has limited resources. I appreciate Sehion for doing such an awesome job with what they had. Why should St. Paul's who has more people do the same thing? Also, when those guys were singing, how many of the girls were worshiping? I heard comments that the girls thought those guys were hot, and all that jazz. This is how you know that it is more of a performance than it is a worship. When did worship become about the band or the people and not about God? Matt Redman and many others sing this beautiful song that puts it best. "When the music fades and all is stripped away, and I simply come. Longing just to bring, something that's of worth, that will bless your heart...I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about You. All about You, Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I made it. When it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus." Heart of Worship is a song that we sing so many times in church, and sometimes we don't pay attention to the words and the immense meaning behind it. Look at that though. "It's all about You Jesus." Can we REALLY say that it's all about Him when we come for Worship, or is it about the speaker, the band, the folks around us, and the million thoughts that are flying through our head? Another issue people claim is that the speaker isn't JP from Watermark Community Church. Believe me, I've heard his sermons. They are something else! He is very down to earth, and he is engaging. The only problem is, many of his teachings are different from our Mar Thoma teachings. People claim that the Mar Thoma Church is way too strict in this regard. Perhaps we are, but that's the same in all churches. People within the Mar Thoma Church knows more about the Mar Thoma Church, because they are a part of it, but they don't know half of what goes on in the background of the other churches. Nondenominational Churches have their own teachings, and they won't let a Mar Thoma Achen or a Baptist Pastor come preach at their churches. To be honest, the Mar Thoma Church is more lenient than some of these other churches in whom they allow to speak. Our speaker is Rev. Alan Hitt from the Methodist Church, and I met with the guy. He is very engaging, and I am sure that the Holy Spirit will speak powerful messages through him. We, as a community of believers really need to stop limiting our Lord. If we truly knew Him for who He is, then His power should not cease to amaze us. To know that He does all of this for us is another mind blower. I am in awe of His grace, mercy, and love for humanity. Yet, I myself have mentally limited Him on several occasions. For that, I seek His forgiveness. Honestly, I believe we all need to examine ourselves and how well we know our Lord if we're going to limit Him to nondenominational preachers and outside bands. Please note that they are also a Praise & Worship team, even though they call themselves a band. Majority of these "bands" are really Praise & Worship teams, because they haven't signed a record deal with anyone or released albums. I'm not here criticizing or labeling anybody. I'm merely stating my opinion on what we as humans (including myself) do on a regular basis.

Another thing I found out was that some people lied about why they won't be coming to Regional Conference. Listen, I can understand if you simply just don't want to come, so you say you don't, but don't take out the effort to lie about something like this. If you don't want to come, please just say that. Don't make up a million excuses or lies about why you can't come. If you feel that you shouldn't come because you won't be there for the right reasons, come anyway! That again is limiting God, because even if we come with our mentality set on worldly things and not on heavenly things, God can easily change that. Chris Tomlin sings, "How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God, and will see how great is our God." He who created the universe and all that is within it will not hesitate to do anything for us. Just don't limit Him.

This year, I wanted to do something different. We will be having Prayer Warriors and Intercessors. You may ask what the difference is between the two. Well, the Prayer Warriors will be there praying for the people whenever the people need prayer. Intercessors will meet early in the morning on Saturday and Sunday praying for this conference. This is the basic definition of Prayer Warriors and Intercessors. I'm really looking forward for this. No matter what, I ask that you all keep this in your prayers.

By the way, this post was not meant to try to garner more people into coming to Regional Conference or to put anyone down. It was merely sublimation, so that I could get some of this tension out of me without being a jerk. If you would like to register, please note that it is $85/person and that you can register until Monday, October 24, 2011 at 11:59 PM on www.prisonbreak2k11.com.

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

-Romans 8:32 (NIV 1984)

"Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit."

-Psalm 147:5 (NIV 1984) 

Call of Duty: Chosen for Action

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley also known as Dean Stanley once said, "The true calling of a Christian is not to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way."

This is completely brilliant in my opinion. When we really examine ourselves as Christians, how many of us would pick up a piece of trash over taking a leadership position? Not many. We believe there are others that will do the small menial tasks, and that we are to do the big things. Now, this doesn't mean we're not meant to explore our tasks within the church. There are many people in the church that take a back seat to what goes on in the church and expects the select few to take care of everything. How much better and efficiently would the church function if everyone pitched in! The church is the body of Christ, and each person is vital in different ways. Not everyone can become part of the Praise & Worship team, but they can help out by being on the Audio/Visual team. In that sense, we should put in effort to find out what we are to do in the church, and when we do, we can excel in that manner. Then, the church would function as a family and not as a business. There are a lot of similarities between the two, but the difference is that there is a lot more love in the family.

Wow, it's been two months since I posted on this blog?! In my previous post, I mentioned I wouldn't post as much, but I didn't realize I would cut down this much! I've had some friends tell me to continue on with my blog, so I will definitely strive to post more often.

This past weekend, I was privileged to attend Sehion Mar Thoma Church's Family/Youth Retreat. I was so blessed to be there, and I loved the time I spent with the Sehion youths. The structure of their retreat really grabbed my attention. They started off the weekend together for Praise & Worship and theme presentation on Friday, and then the only time there was association with the parents was during the meals throughout Saturday, and everyone was together on Sunday for Holy Qurbana. It was unique, cost-efficient, and simply a blessing, in my opinion.

Friday, September 30, 2011, I came with my brothers Justin and Asish to the retreat. Asish was asked if he could play djembe for the retreat. He basically needed us for transportation, so we kinda tagged along. We arrive there, and we're talking to the Praise & Worship team about what was going on and the plans for the weekend. They asked if I could help them out with sound, and lo and behold, I am put to work! To be honest though, I did not mind a single bit to run sound for them. That was an awesome Praise & Worship team with beautiful voices, so it wasn't hard at all. I just hope they liked it as much as I did. The Praise & Worship team consisted of Stacy Varghese (vocalist/guitarist), Jincy Mathew (vocalist), Ashley Mathew (guitarist), and of course, Asish Mathew (djembeist). Throughout the whole weekend, they did an off the top job of maintaining a great spiritual environment with their Praise & Worship. Friday, we were also introduced to the theme. The theme was Call of Duty: Chosen for Action (the title of my post) and the verse was from II Peter 1:10-11 (posted below). Personally, I loved the theme. I had a similar theme in mind for the regional men's retreat that we're planning for next year. Ehh, oh well, we'll figure something out. Then, we played Family Feud by splitting into two teams of guys vs. girls, and I'm sure the kids had a lot of fun in that. Then, it was chill and hit the hay for the night.

Saturday, October 1, 2011, all the guys had set their alarms for 6:00 AM for yoga workout. We were pumped and excited for it! Then, our alarms rung, and we turned them off and went back to sleep. The younger guys, on the other hand, woke up, got dressed, and they left. I don't know what they ended up doing, but they weren't tired at all. Even after missing yoga, we almost missed breakfast because we were lazying out of bed. We got dressed, and we hit the mess hall. I would stand to say Midlothian had one of the best meals if not the best out of all the retreats I've been to. Trust me, I've been to quite a few. IHOP would have competition with Camp Hoblitzelle's breakfast. After breakfast, we split and the parents were in one hall, and we were in the rec hall. The rec hall has such a nice structure. They had a big projector screen in the middle, 32 channel mixer board, more than enough space to seat everyone, and in the adjacent room, they had two billiards tables, an air hockey table, a fooseball table, and a ping pong table. We kicked off with Praise & Worship, and then we got into the main talk. The speaker for this retreat was none other than Mr. Jojy Koshy! His talks were really great, and it really helped me examine what my call of duty to Christ is. Then, there was the team building activities, lunch, and after lunch was the fun part. In the schedule, it was known as Operation Zion, commonly known as paintball. Man, that really made me the happiest man at that moment! Justin and I seemed to be the paintball veterans as most of those kids hadn't played ever. The girls kept asking us if it would be painful or if they should play. I encouraged them to play and that it wouldn't hurt...much. Of course, after we finished with paintball, all the girls yelled at me for falsifying information. We played about a total of seven games. After paintball, all the guys decided to play some football real quick before dinner. I only went in a couple of times, but largely I sat out. I had met a friend named Steven at this retreat, and he had a broken arm, so he couldn't play, so I chilled with him for a while. After dinner, we had an open mic night session where the parents busted out with their mad talents. Seriously, they should be on Comedy Central with their antics. I loved it! There was a skit that was done which incorporated a Thirumeni, an Achen, the Vice-President of the church, and the Sevika Sangham Secretary. I couldn't stop laughing! Then, we took some group pictures, and afterwards, we had another main talk and small group session. This led us into dedication, in which some of those kids really shared their testimonies and as a collective group, rededicated ourselves to Christ. Then, we closed off the night by hanging out, roasting and eating some s'mores by the fire place and chilling before heading to bed. At this time, I was asked if I would like to assist in the Holy Qurbana. I was so blessed to be simply asked to assist. Sometimes, we take it for granted to be up there and assist, but it's really a privilege given by God that we can never take for granted. It is a high duty and calling with great responsibility.

Sunday, October 2, 2011, we had Holy Qurbana at 8:00 AM. I set my alarm for 6:00 AM to wake up and get ready, so I could go help set up the thronos at 7:00 AM, but what a fail, I woke up at 6:45 AM, and so I had to rush to get dressed. By the time, I got there it was 7:30 AM, and they were all set and ready to go. I verified the sound system was all systems go, and then at 8:00 AM, we began the Holy Qurbana service. After it ended, there was one more main talk by Jojy to the combined group, and then we had the vote of thanks, and we closed off. The three of us packed, and we departed just as everyone else did. It was a great closing to an amazing weekend. Even though I had to run sound, this was a definitely a retreat for me. I was able to relax, have fun, and most of all, get spiritually enriched. I also got a chance to spend some time with my cousins that attend Sehion Mar Thoma Church. To be honest, I've never really been at a church or church event where I could tell people, "That's my cousins over there" or to hang out with my cousins, so this was really refreshing. Gotta love family!

Besides this past weekend, I've been keeping busy with school and church things. This weekend is the National Yuvajana Sakhyam Conference hosted by St. Paul's. I'm going to definitely be busy with that. I think it'll be a great program, and it will go well. Theodosius Thirumeni will be there, so that's going to be great! I haven't seen him ever since I left New York, and he tends to grow on a fellow. If I haven't mentioned this before, I have respect for him. His devotion to ministry is unlike any I've ever really seen before.

"Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

-II Peter 1:10-11 (NIV 1984)